Garden Greens Are YUM!

It’s time to activate TEAM BUNNY for 2016!

During the last few years, “Team Bunny” – a dedicated group of the Peaceful Hands Yoga community – has been providing organic greens, clover, and dandelions to patients at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

The Wildlife Center has come to us for help again this year.

It’s the Center’s annual spring influx of rabbits (many are tiny orphan bunnies) – they arrive at the Center every day, sometimes delivered in shoe boxes, sometimes wrapped in towels.

Last year, the Center cared for 320 cottontails. That’s a lot of bunnies … and each one needs to eat.

These patients don’t particularly like the regular “hospital fare” the Center provides. (And, really, who does like hospital food?) But, what baby bunnies and their friends DO love is snacking on dandelion greens and clover.

Would you be willing to donate a bag of dandelions and clover from your yard?

(Yes, really. I am asking for your garden weeds.)

Peaceful Hands Yoga students & massage clients have provided many, many, many pounds of natural greens to feed Wildlife Center patients. In recognition of this kindness, the Peaceful Hands’ family has been dubbed “Team Bunny.”

In addition to the rabbits, our greens also are used to feed other patients at the Center, including bear cubs and box turtles.

One of the many Wildlife Center patients who enjoyed “Team Bunny” greens in 2015.

“Team Bunny rocks!  … Exposing them to the natural foods that they will eat in the wild is the best way to wean them from formula onto solid foods.  It also acclimates them to hiding in vegetation to protect them from predators.” ~ Dr. Kelli Knight, Assistant Director of Veterinary Services, Wildlife Center of Virginia

Join “TEAM BUNNY” by donating a bag — or 2 or 3 — of greens and help feed the bunnies!

Here’s how …

If you’re out in your yard, garden, or pasture (in untreated, pesticide- and chemical-free areas only, please) and you wander across some dandelions and/or clover, the Wildlife Center would love to have them! Fresh is better, of course, so if you’re coming to class or have a massage scheduled, pull them up in the morning sometime and bring them in with you. Or drop them off at my massage studio any time during the week.

Here’s what the Center can use:

• Dandelions – especially the green leafy parts
• Clover
• Lettuce – dark green varieties
• Kale, Collards, or other “Greens”

A little bag. A big bag. Every little bit helps.

The rabbits and others will need the bounty for many weeks to come. And, soon the goslings and ducklings will benefit from your donations as well.

And, a happy, eating rabbit is a healing rabbit (or duckling or bear cub or turtle), and that makes the job easier for the Center’s Vets and Rehabbers.

Email me with questions at jackie@peacefulhands.com.

In Yoga, the generous donation of time, service, and gifts to those in need is known as Seva.

Team Bunny is Seva in action.

Thank you for all you do to help the wildlife around us.